Autistic Behaviors: How One Parent Deals With Three Troublesome Behaviors

All children whether they are autistic or not, have behaviors and habits that we parents wish they didn't have.

As a parent it is our job to decide exactly which behaviors need changing. Also, with Autistic children in particular we need to find if it is the behavior or the intensity, frequency, or severity of the behavior that is causing the problem.

I often explain that the behaviors my daughter presents are not that unusual, it is the intensity of them that make them unacceptable.

The three that this article will focus on are: repeating a certain pattern,inappropriate and continuous verbalization in social situations, and rigidity in accepting things being done in a matter other than the norm.

PATTERNS: She likes to rearrange the cushions on the couch in a particular order, once arranged, she removes them and then arranges them again, and again, for an inordinate amount of time. Her attention will then shift to another area. This arranging and rearranging activity will continue for hours. Additionally while she is doing the rearranging she is vocalizing no, no, no, or yes, yes, yes, and if one gets placed wrong she will scream and scream until someone intervenes and puts the pillow where she wants it and she will calmly continue arranging.

Inappropriate social behaviors: She had been to her therapists office, then we went out to eat dinner. During dinner she started talking about some dolls she used during her session. The dolls were anatomically correct. She informed us, in detail, about the difference between them. She used a loud voice and could not be redirected. She was 12 years old. I got many strange looks and comments, I felt embarrassment to say the least. She was far too big to physically take out of the restaurant so we quit eating and left very quickly. One lady cornered me about it, I smiled and simply said puberty!

Rigidity:We traveled the same route, in the same way from our house to school everyday. I had learned not to vary the route or the times I changed lanes etc. My car was in the shop and a friend graciously picked us up to take her to school and me to work. My friend took a slightly different route and drove at a different speed, this induced screaming and crying to the point of being inconsolable. My friend did not deal well with the screaming-I wonder why? There was nothing I could do except to have her take us back home. Once we arrived home the crying ceased. I directed my friend the entire trip as to speed, lane changes etc. There were no further incidents on this trip.

You no doubt agree that rearranging cushions, talking about a new thing learned, or having a routine are not bad in and of themselves. However, when taken to extremes they can cause a parent to feel extreme exasperation, bewilderment, and stress.

It is behaviors such as these repeated on a daily basis can get tedious. Autism is a 24/7 365 day a year condition.

Are you wondering how I chose to handle the above situations? Her rearrangement activities I simply allow, no one is in danger, it calms her, I have no problem with it

The inappropriate talk, is a little more difficult. We discussed what is personal and what is not personal. We developed a cue that through repeated practice she learned to understand meant to change subjects or just be quiet.

Advance planning and discussion handle the change in the route taken. Reassurance was given that it was safe and acceptable..

There is much more that could be said on this subject, my goal was to explain how even seemingly harmless behaviors can wear a parent down. Are children are inflexible but we are. There certainly are other ways of handling situations, this was the method I used.

Patricia M. Hines invites you to visit her blog at http://www.luckyandhappyblog.com. This blog is about motivation, positivity and information about Developmental Disorders (Autism, Rett Syndrom, Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), Childhood Distegrative Disorder and Aspergers Disorder), other Neurological Disorders plus my own persoanl reflections on life. Please feel free to add comments or suggestions on the blog. Thank You.

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Autism Makes Sense-Ory To Me!

My Autism Child was recently admitted to hospital and once again a long, tiresome week of training the "Autism Uneducated" occurred. Talk about frustrating! It seems to me that everybody knows the word - Autism - but they really haven't a clue about what it means to be a child/individual with it. As parents we will forever be advocating for our children with Autism but sometimes I feel like the "Autism Whisperer" or the "Autism Interpreter". Perhaps I'd be better to start the conversation with "Excuse me, I'm a visitor here. Do you speak Autism?"

As I speak to nurses, doctors, specialists, ward staff and orderlies about why my Autism child can't/won't comply with a task I can almost see the words "over reacting Mother" stand out on their forehead. They nod politely but their eyes "glaze over" when I mention the "A" word.... I know they're probably wishing they were anywhere else but standing in front of me.

Autism parents know that for our children Autism comes FIRST in everything, and must always be considered in every situation before anything else is addressed.

Sensory issues are especially noticeable in a hospital environment. So while wearing a brace may be standard treatment for a back condition, the rigid and constrictive feel of the brace, the weight of it, the noise it makes when you sit or stand, the cold metal against skin etc etc just can't be tolerated - and more importantly can't be ignored - by my autism child. He is so agitated by the feel of the brace he can't focus on anything else. Not on TV or his DS4 or his iPod.

The stress and anxiety brought on by the sensory issues of the brace caused ulcers to erupt in his mouth (a common stress symptom for our Autism child) and so the pain of the ulcers over-rode all other pain and sensation. So when asked about his back pain level (1 -10) he answered "5, but my mouth hurts".

No food or drink could be consumed - no sleep happened - no other thought was had by my Autism child except "my mouth hurts". When the mouth ulcers were mentioned they were overlooked by medical staff as being insignificant in the big scheme of things. The sore mouth wasn't investigated or treated for 3 days (despite my constant 'nagging') while they focussed on his back. Of course all medical staff reprimanded my Autism child about his lack of fluid intake, lack of food intake and not sleeping for 3 days. No-one really gets the impact of sensory issues on our kids!

Aaarrgghhh! Silly professionals - sometimes they just can't see past their textbooks!

Nelle Frances is the mother of a 20 year old with Asperger's Syndrome, a Special Needs Educator and Author of the Ben and His Helmet series of books for children with Autism. Her site http://www.autismchild.org offers resources, strategies, and articles on Autism and Aspergers Syndrome for parents and teachers.

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Jump With Your Autistic Child!

It is so simple, yet so much fun. Jumping is a great way for your child to have fun, do something healthy and gain confidence.

Finding activities that children enjoy can often be a challenge. Often children with Autism may struggle with co-ordination or other physical challenges that make it hard for them to participate in sports. This often causes them to lose interest in sport related activities and can lower self esteem.

Consider Jumping! The physical act of jumping for most children is simple and individual enough that they are able to excel and in turn gain new physical capabilities and confidence. So how do you turn a simple jump in to an activity? Use your imagination. Invent games or imaginary worlds.

Most autistic children have great imaginations and enjoy inventing stories or worlds. Imagine walking through a magical forest, having to jump over logs or to enter the castle. Possibly a game to see who can jump the fastest in 10 seconds or who can jump the furthest or highest.

The most important key is to be sure to make it FUN. If you are competing in any way, let the child win most of the time! Be aware of the child's feelings and what they want to do. Try to adapt the activity to what they are interested in, not dictating the entire exercise having to happen a certain way.

Over time, the child will develop greater interest, confidence and you can start to shape the activities to further improve the child's skill. It is also important to regularly participate to keep the child interested, but not too often as this may be overwhelming.

Variety is important to keep it interesting and the activity should be focused on the concept of the game or story, not the physical act of jumping. For example, you may ask your child "Do you want to play the magical castle game?" (which is actually the lets practice jumping and have fun at the same time game).

Jumping may seem simple, but that is the beauty of it - a child can make good progress in a non-competitive environment. Using a little creativity they can learn, gain physical ability and confidence and new interest in sports related activities.

Most sports benefit from jumping, either directly such as basketball, or indirectly as jumping can assist with co-ordination and running.

There are additional resources available for techniques and ideas on how to jump higher and better at the AIIG web site. Try to incorporate these ideas in your games slowly and build in additional techniques and exercises as the child is able.

There are additional resources available for techniques and ideas on how to jump higher and better at the AAIG site (autism awareness information gateway).

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Medications Used For Autism - Is This a Positive Or Negative Approach? Find Out

There are numerous studies and valid research, that affirm medications used for treating individuals with autism, have a positive approach. There are other statements and research that challenge the use of medications and believe it is a negative approach, in the treatment of autism. These claims are supporting the fact, that there may not be a demand for medications used in the treatment of autism. How will you make the correct choice?

Medications used for autism vary with each individual, age, and gender. Researchers have discovered that using medications is not always the answer. They have learned, it does not always make a significant difference with children who have autism.

Positive approach with medication, could be used when children who experience depression and may have difficulty with seizures. In this case, psychiatric medications that have been prescribed, indicated positive change. Some of these medications are also in the process of being experimented with, in treating these symptoms.

Before medications can be considered to be a positive or a negative approach, it is wise to consult an autism professional and have your child evaluated, before accepting medications as the only alternative that will help your child.

Many professionals and research studies, have given a positive or negative approach for using medications, but they can vary according to their opinions and what is available on the market.

Be aware of the symptoms and signs, that may indicate whether your child does have autism, before considering using medications. Infants will show some of these symptoms. For example:

* No joyful expression with smiles by six months.

* No social skills, loss of speech at any age.

* Repetitive behavior.

* No babbling or forms of words.

* Spacial stare.

* Not good eye contact.

There are more signs and symptoms related to infants and children who might have autism, but they are not listed here. Have a professional specialist do an evaluation on your child, to determine if he or she needs medication and what the results will be. Find out, if taking the medications will have a positive or negative approach, that will help your child with the disorder of autism.

If you believe and know, your child will not gain a positive approach with a medication prescribed, it is imperative that you consider or search other alternatives that will make a difference.

When you are considering a positive or negative approach using medication prescribed by your specialist, examine what the value of the results are, to determine if it will be permanent or for what length of time, to help your child.

Are you willing to make choices if medications will be a negative or positive approach? Will you search other therapies for your child, that may be effective? If one medication is the only medication that may work for your child, but he or she may have side effects, what other choices will you pursue? If the medication works, but for a short period of time, what other approach are you willing to explore? Are you able to consider the opinions of other qualified specialists and determine for yourself, which opinion may fit your child with accurate information?

Giving medications to your child who has autism, may be a positive or negative approach. You are responsible to make the choice.

"Bonita Darula operates, an informational web sight==> http://www.autismintoawareness.com that provides you with imperative information about Autism. If you want to learn, the secret truth about treatments, medications, diet, nutrition, research, coping, siblings, compulsive rituals and other topics that are crucial for your child. Sign up and RECEIVE your FREE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER".

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You Admit You Are Depressed Because You Have an Autistic Child - How Do You Cope?

What is depression? It is defined by my dictionary as "sad, dejected, low spirits of vitality, melancholy, feeling hollow inside." You admit you are depressed because you have an autistic child. You have every right to own those feelings and admit how you are feeling. How do you cope?

I am one of those people who felt down, depressed, lost, and felt I was the only person in the world who had a brother who was diagnosed with his disorder. I felt lost and the end of the world was to come.

You may feel depressed as parent(s), caregiver(s) and admit that you do, but, we all have experienced various times in our life when we feel down, low, withdrawn and depressed, for various reasons. Reasons that are out of our control. Such as your child being diagnosed with autism. You should not allow circumstances to control you and allow them to have power over you. By taking that kind of action, you will be drawn into your negative feelings and become powerless.

It is a positive step forward in the right direction now that you have admitted to the fact, that you are depressed. Of course you will feel frustration and distress and perhaps have some of your hopes, plans, dreams, being unfulfilled, due to the news of hearing your child is autistic. That does not mean you will not have the strength to cope.

When things or life does not go according to our plans, it is normal to feel disappointment. Do not trust your thoughts and feelings. That is one way to cope. It appears that your number one enemy is allowing your emotions to dictate your feelings. I know for a fact, that I tend to be led by my emotions and how I feel at times. Depression and all of your emotions can change from each day.

Having an autistic child can bring many emotions of depression. You can learn to cope and make these emotions positive even though you have admitted you are depressed.

It is easy to follow every thought that comes to your mind, because your thoughts and feelings do not dictate the truth to you. You must not allow this to happen. When you give into these feelings and the emotions of depression, because your child is autistic, it will become more difficult for you to cope. Depression is almost always caused by some external experience. Therefore, become aware of the problem, so it does not lead to depression.

Admitting you are depressed because you have a child with the disorder of autism, does not mean you have to stay disappointed or discouraged. I have learned, that it is impossible to be positive and negative, at the same time. It does not work.

Once you admit you are depressed, it is time to learn how to cope and be in control of your emotions. Remember, to cope with depression because your child is autistic, is to realize you will always have feelings; they will never go away, but you can choose to change your feelings so they are making sense with your decisions you make.

It is imperative for you to face the truth that you have a child with autism and take responsibility for your actions, and you will become a stronger person and you will learn to cope.

Are you willing to take inventory of yourself, now that you have admitted you are depressed and want to find out why? Do you want to turn the depression around, so that your emotions become positive? Will you make choices of knowing that each day has opportunities that will help you and your child grow? Will you take action and tell yourself, you will get through the depression, your child is important? Are you willing to seek out other parent(s), caregiver(s), who are going through depression because of the same situation you are involved with?

Your child who has autism, may bring you depression, and you have admitted it, but your child is a blessing and will bring you strength, as well.

"Bonita Darula has an informational website. Be her guest at http://www.autismintoawareness.com if you would like to learn and find out the secret truth about autism. Sign up for your Free Weekly Autism Newsletter."

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The Autism Puzzle

Autism is a developmental disorder that we simply don't yet know enough about. It puzzles both the parent and the professional. Amazingly, more productive research has been done on autism in the last twenty years than in the entire 200 years prior. What we know about autism is fairly basic. What we speculate about is far more wide-reaching. We wonder, often publicly and loudly, whether vaccines cause autism or the various foods we consume or even the air we breathe, infused as we believe it is with whole hosts of toxins and chemicals. The fact is that we know actually very little about this disorder.

Autism is called autism spectrum disorder. What that means is that, just like there are different shades in a visual spectrum, there are varying degrees of autism, from very mild to extremely non-communicative. We know that most children with the disorder are diagnosed quite young. Research will give figures of children as young as 18 months, but three years of age is more reasonable. We also know that children with autism tend to have communication issues, not speaking as their peers or even siblings do, having a tough time doing things we expect babies and toddlers to be able to do, like read and mimic facial expressions.

Autistic children don't interact well with others and typically don't play well with others either. There may be other symptoms as well, where parents will always admit they felt something just wasn't right, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it because their child usually looked normal and seemed normal in every other respect. We know that autism seems to be on the rise and the media is reporting what they are calling the "explosion" of autism. We know that, for many of the severest cases, autism means a lifetime of dependent care. We also know that there really is no treatment for autism.

Recently, the most amazing thing has happened, where autism and other genetic mysteries are concerned, TGen happened. TGen, a nonprofit, biomedical research institution headquarted in Arizona, is unlike any other organization previously. They do research because they want to do research and they align everyone who might be able and willing to help, without some of the typical entanglement issues of private organizations or even research universities. The result is, quite simply, an unprecedented level of research into some of the things that matter most to our society, like genetic diseases, cancer, and autism.

TGen launched a most interesting research study, enlisting the help of families who had the distinction of having two or more cases of autism in the same family, in what was called "the largest study ever conducted to find the genes associated with inherited risk for autism" (Guzzardo, 2004). Words like "cutting edge" have been used to describe TGen's work, as identifying the actual gene responsible for autism itself is step one to then, potentially, being able to alter that gene, eradicating autism forever. TGen provides a future for roughly 1 million Americans who have never had the option to consider a life without autism.

Guzzardo, J. (2004). Largest Autism Study Ever Conducted Using DNA Array Technology. Retrieved March 18, 2010, from: http://www.tgen.org/news/index.cfm?newsid=244

Calista has been an online writer for nearly 2 years now. Not only does this author specialize in health, relationships, finance, and product reviews, you can also check out her latest website on Sirius SUPH1 Universal Dock Kit which reviews and lists the best Sirius SUPH1 Universal Dock Kit.

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Our Modern Epidemic of Autism, ADHD and Behavioral Problems

The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, has made it official the CDC now reports that 1 in 100 children are autistic. A study conducted by the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) found a staggering 1 in 63 children were reported to be autistic and the rate climbed to 1 in 38 if the child was a boy! Even more frightening is that 1 in 6 infants have developmental delays. The rate of ADHD has now reached levels of 1 in 10 children; this can be easily verified by talking with most elementary school teachers. Why is this epidemic exploding within our modern society? More importantly what can be done that is safe and effective to help these children? It is vital that parents are provided an understanding of these disorders, what affects the health of their child's brain and metabolically what can be done to restore health.

One approach that is gaining ground is biomedical care for children with autism, ADHD, OCD and behavioral problems. Biomedical care for these disorders is a science-based, metabolic approach to treatment. Everyone is now agreed that psychotropic drugs do not treat the problem; they simply reduce or suppress some of the symptoms. It would seem that a better choice is to address the underlying metabolic issues and health problems in these disorders. The primary guiding principle then is simple: remove what is causing harm, and add what is missing!

Research is now demonstrating that children with these disorders often have an exaggerated response to specific foods, airborne allergens, toxic chemicals and metals in our environment. It is well documented that they often lack various nutrients, enzymes, anti-oxidants, and essential fatty acids, and that they require methylation support. The combination of these factors leads to or aggravates neuroimmune dysfunction causing low-grade inflammation in affected brain tissues. This state of oxidative stress and chronic inflammation in the brain causes the nerve cells to not communicate properly with one another. These disorders have aptly been called disconnection syndromes, one area the brain is not communicating well with other areas leading to symptoms in cognition, emotion and behavior.

A partial outline of possible biomedical care for a child with one of these disorders:

1st: Laboratory tests through blood, urine and stool are performed to rule out any frank pathology and provide vital clues on what road to take for real healing.

2nd:The diet is improved along with specific dietary restrictions. A primary dietary goal may be a casein and gluten-free diet, along with removal of sugar, preservatives, and food additives.

3rd: Specific laboratory IgG food allergy testing may be performed to identify other food allergies that could be leading to brain inflammation, and then remove these foods from the diet.

4th: It is vital to identify any problems with maldigestion, malabsorption, and dysbiosis through specific laboratory tests such as comprehensive stool analysis. Then improve GI function by overcoming any dysbiosis and leaky gut problems, a primary source for chronic inflammation in these disorders.

5th: At this point specific supportive nutrients for autism and ADHD are added, depending on what has been found on history, exam and clinical lab.

6th: Support methylation and sulfoxidation-sulfation inadequacies and other cellular detoxification pathways

7th: Chelation of heavy metals can have marked benefit once all other factors have been addressed.

Dr. Greg Fors, D.C. is a Board-certified Neurologist (IBCN), certified in Applied Herbal Sciences (NWHSU) and acupuncture. Trained through the Autism Research Institute he is a registered Defeat Autism Now! Doctor. As the clinic director of the Pain and Brain Healing Center in Blaine Minnesota he specializes in a natural biomedical approach to chronic pain and neurological conditions. He is a sought after international lecturer for various post graduate departments and state associations. Dr. Fors is the author of the highly acclaimed book, "Why We Hurt" available through booksellers everywhere. Click here to learn more about this Minnesota Autism Clinic or this Dan Doctor.

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